Getting Closer To Go-Time

Hi there, its been a while. I am back on the trike again. During the past few weeks I have not been riding. I have been resting the knee and trying to strengthen my IT Band. I have been attending a Yoga class which has been pretty intense. It is HOT Yoga; they keep the room at 105 degrees and it is a 90 minute workout. It’s a total cleansing while twisting into crazy positions and strengthening core muscles. I think it has helped with the flexibility and strength in my knees.

Last week I paid a visit to the UCDavis Sports Performance Lab. At the lab, we set up my trike on my new stationary trainer. They had me ride and we made some adjustments to the trike and to my cycling cleats. I rode some more and we made some more adjustments. Dr. Cosca made some observations and some helpful suggestions. He said that we want to try to fix the knee pain mechanically if possible, meaning by adjusting the trike and the way I pedal. However if the adjustments do not do the trick we can always do a shot of cortisone to get me to Memphis. The visit with Dr. Cosca has put me at ease because he assured me that we will take care of this knee thing. This appointment was set up by Kent Mulkey of Team Donate Life. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with experienced Doctors and Engineers. Thank you to Kent, Dr. Cosca, and Judd.

So now it is Christmas break and I have plenty of time to make sure I can make it to Memphis with my stock set of legs and knees. This morning, Dad and I went on a nice and easy ride near my new home in East Sacramento. The ride was about 12 miles and it took us over an hour but there was no pain and we came back in one piece…victory! We survived to ride another day.

I was very concerned about my knee for a while but let me assure you that I am 100% committed to completing this ride!

Another exciting development is that my promotional DVD is almost finished. We filmed this piece about a month ago and it is finally coming together, should be completed this week (Ihave been saying that for the past two weeks but I really mean it this time). Hopefully the video will be available for viewing on my website, I’ll let you know.

One last thing…WE ARE APROACHING OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL! The goal is $30,000 and we are at about $25,000 thanks to generous donations by many people, many of whom I have never met before, very encouraging! One huge donation was made by Sierra Self Insurance Services. Their donation of $5,000 will keep the momentum going and will help us get over the hump. A huge THANK YOU to Mike Krill, Gail Blagg and Mike Bryant (Dad) of Sierra Self Insurance Services. We are very close, keep the donations coming!

Freezing

Rode to work with Andy this morning...it was 31 degrees. Is that...um...yes, thats just below freezing. It was cold! I had two layers on the bottom, 4 layers on the top, 2 pairs of gloves,a beanie for my ears, and booties over my cycling shoes, I looked pretty ridiculous...sorry, no pictures.

I have a feeling it will be much more cold and wet during the ride so I figure I need better gloves and some wind breaker/rain pants. Good thing I am finding this out now, soon it will be too late!

We did not ride home (took regional transit) because my knee was acting up again. However, I think I am making some progress because my knee is taking me a lot farther than it did a few weeks ago. Just gotta take it slow and easy as I train the knee for long rides again...

Back in the saddle again

For weeks I was plagued by a knee pain that may be the beginning stages of tendinitis, I was very aprehensive about getting back on the bike and aggravating the knee again. However, I took some steps to fix the problem (physical therapy, new pedals and shoes, a few adjustments to the trike, and lots of stretching).


This weekend I got in the saddle for the first time in about a month and it went very well. I rode about 5 miles on thursday and about 12 on Saturday. I took it slow and I think I am a little hyper sensitive about knee pain right now but better safe than sorry, right?

So, now that I am back, I am going to start ramping up the training again. I am also going to try to pay more attention to nutrition and hydration from now on. I am giving up beer (and alcohol) until I get to Memphis, it dehydrates like none other. Party in Memphis March 22, 2007. See ya there!